The OnePlus 6T won’t have a headphone jack, but it may have a bigger battery

The OnePlus 6 is one of the best Android flagship phones with a headphone jack, but its eventual successor — expected to be called the OnePlus 6T — won’t have one, according to OnePlus’ co-founder Carl Pei. In an interview with TechRadar, Pei said the decision was justified. “We found 59% of our community already owned wireless headphones earlier this year – and that was before we launched our Bullets Wireless headphones,” he said.

It’s not that OnePlus’ reasoning is to go on a crusade against the headphone jack. The company wants to deliver an optimal set of features, and Pei thinks that it’s worth removing the 3.5mm audio jack in favor of something better: battery life. “By removing the jack we’ve freed up more space, allowing us to put more new technology into the product,” he said.

To soften the blow, OnePlus is offering alternatives in the form of USB-C headphones, if you must have wired headphones with the upcoming OnePlus 6T. Of course, you’ll be occupying the only available port on the phone, which is far from ideal if you’re low on a charge, even with the promise of better battery life. With OnePlus bowing out on headphone jacks, Samsung and LG remain as the last two globally known manufacturers with flagship phones that still have headphone jacks.